There will be no fracking, Egdon said, with the primary target a conventional structural trap more than 1,500 metres deep.

Over at Greka Drilling (LON:GDL), the specialised unconventional oil and gas driller, has won a new contract to provide drilling services to Essar Oil.

Essar will be using Greka's services on the Raniganj East Block in West Bengal, India, having previously employed Greka on this project in 2015.

Good news for Sound Energy (LON:SOU) as shares nudged higher as it started ground works at its Tendrara licence area in Morocco with all contracts in place for its first well.

Shares in Magnolia Petroleum (LON:MAGP) went lower as it raised £300,000 through a share placing amid volatile oil markets. The cash will be used to reduce its net debt.

In other news, CentralNic (LON:CNIC) has become the first wholesaler to rack up the sale of 3mln web site names using the new top level domains (TLDs).

In the world of pharmaceuticals, ImmuPharma (LON:IMM) has begun dosing patients as part of the phase III clinical trial of its lead drug candidate Lupuzor for the life-threatening autoimmune disease Lupus.

This is a major milestone for the company, which has the chance to take the compound from discovery right the way through to the market.

Meanwhile, e-Therapeutics (LON:ETX) said it will spend more time analysing the mixed data from the phase IIb study of its most advanced drug candidate, ETS6103.

It was being developed as second-line treatment for people with depressive disorders who don’t satisfactorily respond to, or relapse using, the current go-to medication.

Over at US-based healthcare services provider Constellation Healthcare Technologies (LON:CHT), highly respected physician Dr Shawn Zimberg has been appointed to the board as a non-executive director.

Dr Zimberg is the medical director of Advanced Radiation Centers of New York, and has served on the board of Integrated Medical Professionals since July 2006.

And finally, Budget hotel group Action Hotels’ (LON:AHCG) underlying profits jumped by more than 40% in 2015 as the number of rooms its operates in the Middle East and Australia rose 54%.

Because it focused on business travellers, Action added it had not been affected by the recent terrorist attacks or global economic turbulence.

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